Wichita eagle., 1887-08-04
G RsAAeN
THE ENGLISH COURT.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE LORD
CHAMBERLAlN'S FAMOUS ORDER

An Unjust Discrimination Against Amer
lean Ladies-A Picturesque Affair
Worth Going to See-Buckingham
Palace-Americans in London Society.
have been asked often by ladies going to
England this spring as to the presentation to
the queen, which seems suddenly to have
changed its character. Instead of being an
honor, one would judge from the recent de-
cision of the lord chamberlain that it is an
international insult A lady, any number Of
ladies, may be presented. They may run by
thousands before her majecty, like the wild
horses down the Corso, but they are not
eligible for the court balls, concerts and sub
sequent festivitiesl
So reads the latest order. Then Of what
use Is presentation.
Every one knows that presentation to any
court is merely recognition of ones rank at
home, and a permesso to enter the society Of
the city and country to which our minister is
accredited. Else it is firing and formal
thing in which the actors, the receiver and
the received are playing part-merely q
means to an end. If this is really the inter-
probation to be put upon the last order OF the
lord chamberlain, it is far more grievous
cause Of war than the fisheries question.
The queen herself is always polite to Amer
leans. She has reason to be. They have
filed her London of late with q very solvent
crowd, who can hire horses, give dinners,
support her hotels and be a benefaction to
her tradespeople. London needs the money;
the Americans have it and spend it freely.
They are, as the world knows, great favorites
with the Prince and Princess of Wales. We
need not enter into the recent visit of Oliver
Wendell Homes, the ovation paid to him, to
assure our readers that the literary people of
America are well received, from the throne
down. Important intermarriages have taken
place between Englishmen and American
women. Shall the mothers and sisters of
these American ladies be displaced at the
court festivities, and the mothers and sisters
of ladies, no more respected, no more fash
iOnably placed, be admitteds The thing is
preposterous.
The presentation itself is a picturesque
affair and worth going to see, although it is a
fatiguing process. A lady must be dressed at
eleven in the morning in full court dress with
train four yards long and three wide; she
must wear q white vail and have three
feathers in her hair conspicuously placed.
The lord chamberlain in his instructions
particularly mentions that these feathers
be placed so they can be seen in front of the
head. White gloves are also de rigueur, and
as they are never worn anywhere else except
at weddings that is an item which every lady
must attend to.
The carriages approach Buckingham palace
in long queue and one waits an hour or
more in line, exposed to the jeers Of the popu-
lace, who look at the ladies dressed for court
and make comments, laugh and amuse them
selves. One hopes it may do them some good,
for they look miserable enough. Arriving in
the noble quadrangle of Buckingham palace
the music of the guards band enlivens one,
and the silent, splendid figures of the house
hold troops, the handsomest men in the world,
set like statues on their horses. No matter il
the rain is pouring, as it generally is, neither
man nor horse moves.
Once inside the palace and your card Of
entrance handed to the queens page, some
official takes cloak and the lady wends her
way up a magniicent staircase. Another
and another hall is passed and she finds her
self in suit Of magnificent drawing rooms
Gentlemen Of the household glittering with
uniforms and orders stand about Soon she
arrives at the last drawing room, where
come dropping in.
The necessity Of a court costume, the three
feathers and the vail then becomes apparent.
She is amazed at the beautiful effect pro-
duced by this similarity Of headdresses con-
trasted by the variety of dresses. The train,
ridiculous elsewhere, looks well here. Finally
one sees little turnstile gate and the crowd
begins to move toward it.
t. TO- 7 ~ hoo ~ @l,ok
1 should abolish the turnstile. After the
presentation, the next day, one goes to tho
palace and to Marlborough house and writes
ones name in the queens book, and in that
Of the Prince of Wales His royal highness
is said to look over his book carefully. Then
comes a great card from the lord chamber
lain with the queens command that you
should be invited to the ball at Buckingham
palace This is really worth going to and
worth crossing the Atlantic to see. Bucking-
ham palace is not home-it is merely a
grand reception hall for courtly ceremon-
ials; but in the evening, with the stairs
banked with flowers and the glory of thou
sand wax candles, it is banquet hall worthy
of Englands renown.
Americans in London suffer from two
causes. One is the jealousy of other Amerl-
cans. The moment one American gets a foot
ing in this brilliant and not too exclusive So
ciety he begins to push away other Anleri-
cans. All the vices of the society snob ripen
in the person newly introduced to the society
of the great. That happens everywhere. The
other cause is the push of the numbers, the
$4,000, ali and each one as good as all the rest.
1t is not a lovely spectacle at the American
legation.
Perhaps we are too large a nation, but let
us never forget our national self respect
Our minister and his staff seemed animated
by the most fervens desire to serve their
countrymen- Certainly if any one COM
planned ii should not be myself, for received
every kindness and attention at their hands
felt, as we all do in London, that our en-
bassy should be on broader principles, for
such great, powerful rich republic as ours
should be represented by a house as grand
as that of any other embassy in London.
Our minister should be paid splendidly, so he
could entertain better than his present salary
allows, and the nation should be officially on
par with the empire OF Russia, the kingdom
of Italy, the republic of France.-Mrs. John
Sherwood in New York World